Where Do I Call Home? Part 3 Trivia Quiz

Answer: China

Chinese dragons have been an important symbol in China for centuries. Representing the power and strength of the emperor, the dragon typically looks like a snake with four legs. This dragon is not the fire breathing, destroy everything in its path dragon, either.

It is a deeply spiritual symbol, which is believed to bring good luck and harmony. Although it is said that the Chinese government did not use the dragon as a symbol during the 2008 Summer Olympics due to Western interpretations of the image, the Chinese people consider it a compliment to be compared to a dragon, or to be able to say that they are "the Descendants of the Dragon".

Answer: Greece

Okay, so while the phoenix may be called the national bird of Greece, a bird is an animal! In ancient Greek mythology, a phoenix rose from the ashes to be reborn. While many notable ancient writers, including Herodotus and Ovid, wrote about the mythical bird, they did not agree on the details surrounding its existence.

Some claimed that it rose from the ashes of its predecessor; others said that the bird could exist for over a thousand years before it died and was reborn. There was also disagreement as to the appearance of the phoenix - some said it was about the size of an eagle; others said that it was larger than an ostrich. What color was the bird? Answers included red and yellow, like a peacock, or gold legs with red talons.

Answer: Hungary

The turul is a bird of prey and is pictured as looking like a hawk or falcon. Believed to have started with the House of Arpad sometime between 800-1000, the turul plays a huge role in a mythological story about a princess named Emese. Although the story has several versions, it does involve a turul appearing to Emese in a dream or in person, and perhaps telling her that she was pregnant or impregnating her.

The turul was believed to be the protector of her son, Prince Álmos, who went on to become the first leader of a confederation of Hungarian tribes.

Answer: North Korea

The chollima actually has its roots in the mythology of ancient China. Believed to be too swift for any mortal man to ride, the chollima was said to be capable of riding one thousand Chinese miles (approximately 400 km) in a day. In North Korea today, the Chollima Movement was named after the fast horse, with an intention of speeding up economic development in the late 1950s.

The idea was to encourage people to work harder. Many statues representing the chollima can be found in Pyongyang to symbolize "heroism, the constant, fighting spirit of the Korean people, and the innovations and advance so quickly, at the speed of the Chollima".

Answer: Scotland

Since ancient times stories have been written about the unicorn, and pictures of the elusive animal have been drawn. The ancient Greeks, peoples of the Indus Valley, as well as Biblical writers, who called the animal a re'em, all had representations of the legendary beast.

In ancient Greece, the writers really did believe in the existence of such an animal, so it was not really part of their mythology; it was believed that unicorns were part of the fauna of faraway India. Pictures of what some believe to be unicorns are found on cylinder seals from the Indus Valley Civilization.

Modern translations of the Bible call the re'em either an oryx, wild ox, or unicorn. Since the 12th century the unicorn has been the national symbol of Scotland; in Celtic mythology it symbolizes innocence, purity, masculinity, and power.

Some sources also explain that there is evidence from ancient Babylonia that the unicorn and the lion, adopted as a symbol by the English at about the same time, are natural enemies!

Answer: Wales

"Y Ddraig Goch", translated as "the red dragon", can be seen on the national flag of Wales, which was adopted in 1959. Although some claim that the symbol was used in Roman times to symbolize Welsh power and authority, other say it goes back to the time of Cadwaladr, king of Gwynedd, in the 7th century.

The "Historia Brittonum", written in the early 800s, is the oldest recorded evidence of the symbol's use. While Owain Glyndŵr's banner displayed a golden dragon in a 1401 battle against the English, the red dragon symbol had supposedly been passed to King Arthur by his father.

Henry Tudor, however, flew a banner with a red dragon as he marched to the Battle of Bosworth; it is said that the banner was taken to St. Paul's Cathedral to be blessed after the battle.

Answer: Bhutan

Did you know that Bhutan is called the "Land of the Thunder Dragon" and its king is known as the "Thunder Dragon King"? The druk, also spelled dug or duk, is that dragon and it appears on the flag of Bhutan today! It was established as the symbol of the Drukpa Lineage, a branch of Tibetan Buddhism, in the twelfth century.

The story is that Tsangpa Gyare was building Ralung Monastery in Tibet when he heard the Thunder Dragon roar during a violent storm. Taking that as an omen, he renamed the monastery Drug-Ralung. Eventually the members of the sect traveled to Bhutan and established monasteries there are well.

Answer: Serbia

The white double-headed eagle, or Nemanjić eagle, has been a symbol of Serbia since the twelfth century; it came there from the Byzantine Empire, where it represented the Byzantine Emperor ruling both the East and the West. During this time it was a symbol used on textiles, ornamentation on clothing, and a coat of arms, as well as in monasteries and churches. During the period of Ottoman rule in Serbia, the people were forbidden to use the double-headed eagle, as it was viewed as a symbol of Serbian pride; it surfaced again during the Serbian Revolution in the early 1800s, and was incorporated into the Kingdom of Serbia's coat of arms in 1882. Apparently the illustrator, however, made a mistake at that time and used the style of the German eagle instead.

Answer: Indonesia

A legendary bird that looks like an eagle, the Garuda can be found in both Hindu and Buddhist mythology. In Hinduism it was believed that Lord Vishnu rode the Garuda, which is usually pictured as a huge being with the body of a man, a beak, and wings; the creature was so large that it could block out the sun.

In Buddhist belief the Garuda were birds that had huge wings that extended over a great distance. They were considered to be divine, and so large that a person could hide in their feathers without being detected.

The symbol used in Indonesia looks more like the Javan hawk-eagle, and is represented in many places, including the airline, which is called called Garuda Indonesia.

Answer: Czech Republic

Also called the Bohemian Lion, it is believed that in the twelfth century King Vladislaus II was given arms of a silver lion by Emperor Frederick - with one tail only - on a red background to symbolize his bravery. Another tail was added when King Přemysl Otakar II assisted in fighting the Saxons.

There is another story that originally the emperor gave the king a coat of arms that had a lion with its tail between its legs, but the king's men would not follow such as symbol; the emperor consequently agreed on using the lion with two tails. Today the greater coat of arms of the Czech Republic includes two panels depicting the Bohemian lion, one with the checkered Moravian eagle, and one with the Silesian black eagle.